Abrading machine



C. J. MELLERSKI ABRADING MACHINE Jan. 4, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 6, 1963 INVENTOR.

[ltsz'mer J Meyers?! aw flaw, +191 ATTORNEY- Jan. 4, 1966 c, J, MELLERSKI 3,226,884

ABRADING MACHINE Filed Sept. 6, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 8 I INVENTOR.

7.9 Cdsz'mer I Weller-ski ATTORNEYS C. J. MELLERSKI ABRADING MACHINE Jan. 4, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 6, 1963 INVENTOR- C'as't me? J 77281 lei-s1:

ATTOFNE S United States Patent 3,226,884 ABRADING MACHINE Casimer J. Mellerski, 52 Dempster St, Butfalo, N.Y. Filed Sept. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 307,213 18 Claims. (Cl. 51-141) 1 The present invention relates to polishing, abrading, or sanding machines and more particularly to such machines which may be employed to grind and/or polish a surface of a predetermined curvature on a workpiece.

It is one object of the the present invention to provide an abrading machine for grinding or polishing an arcuate surface by causing the grinding element thereof to generate such an arcuate surface in an extremely simple and expedient manner. p p V Another object of the present invention is to provide an abrading machine which can be adjusted ina simple and causing the workpiece to be fed so that various portions thereof are brought into contact with the, grinding mechice action of the endless belt backing rollers which causes the endless belt to grind an arcuate surface;

FIG. 4 is a view taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

1 FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of a workpiece such as a wrench has had one side ground by the machine of FIGS. 14 and the other side in unground condition;

FIG. 6 is a view taken substantially along line 66 of FIG. 1 but showing a different type of workpiece support than the machine of FIG. 1 with the workpiece in the positionwhich it assumes priorto a grinding operation;

FIG. 7 is a plan view similar to FIG. 6 but showing the workpiece in the position which it assumes at the end of a grinding operation;

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the machine shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a View taken substantially along line 99 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10is a front elevational view of the same general type of machine shown in FIGS. 1-4 but having a modified type of workpiece support and releasing mechanism;

FIG. 11is a view taken substantially along line 11-11 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view of a modified type of mechanism for imparting oscillation to the belt backing rollers;

anism, causingthe workpiece to be automatically released from its work station, and thereafter causing the machine to again return to a condition to receive a subsequent workpiece.

The present invention relates to an improved abrading machine for grinding and/ or polishing arcuate surfaces on a workpiece. which is mounted a motor which drives a pulley which in turn drives an endless belt which encircles this pulley and other pulleys spacedly mounted therefrom. A work station is provided on the machine at which the'workpiece,

to the workpiece with which it is incontact, while the.

Basically the machine includes a base on Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will readily be perceived hereafter.

endless belt is being driven by the above-mentioned motor.

By suitably adjusting the throw of the belt backing rollers and by varying the throw of such rollers relative to each other, the endlessabrading beltmay be caused to generate practically any desired type of curvature so as to make the improved abrading machine of the present invention capable of grinding and/ or polishing surfaces of either regular or irregular curvature.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a machine of the above-mentioned type which includes a work station at which a workpiece may be automatically held, caused to traverse the endless abrading belt which operates in the above-described manner to thereby present different areas of the workpiece to the belt, and thereafter causes the workpiece to be automatically ejected from the machine. The present invention will be more fully understood when the following portions of the specification are read in conjunction with the accompany drawings where- FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an improved grinding or polishing machine of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the machine of FIG. 1 and showing the oscillating FIGS. 12a, 12b, and 12c denote the ground surfaces of workpieces which contain surfaces which are asymmetrically arcuate as a result of the use of the throw adjusting mechanism of FIG. 12;

FIG. 13 is an electropneumatic diagram of the control system for the embodiment of FIGS. 10 and 11;

FIG. 14 is an elevational view of the structure which is utilized for varying the degree of curvature which is generated on a workpiece; and FIG. 15 is a view taken substantially along lines 15-15 of FIG. 14.

The machine of the present invention has been devised specifically for removing, by grinding, the flash 1t) (FIG. 5 which exists on the side of a forged wrench blank 11 to thereby cause it to have a regular arcuate surface 12 after the flash has been ground away. FIG. 5 is a view of the end of an open end Wrench taken substantially along lines 55 of FIG. 11. While the ensuing description will be confined to a machine for grinding flash from a wrench, which is the workpiece in the present instance, it will readily be appreciated that the machine and the mechanical movements therein can be utilized equally well to grind an arcuate surface onto the edge of any type of item and it is in this broader vein that the present invention is to be evaluated. It will further be appreciated that the principles and operations described in detail hereafter are equally applicable to grinding, sanding or polishing machines and accordingly the machine of the present invention will be designated an abrading machine, to thus generically define all ,of the foregoing machines.

i In FIGS. 14 one embodiment of the present invention .is disclosed. This machine includes a base 13 having a motor 14 mounted thereon by bracket 15. A pulley 16 is suitably secured to the shaft 17 of motor 14. A vertical plate 18 is secured to base 13 as by welding. A first pulley 19 is journaled on shaft 20 extending from plate 18 and a second pulley 21 is journalled on pin 22 at the end of lever 23, the central portion of which is pivotally mounted on pin 24 extending from plate 18. The end of lever 23 remote from pin 22 has one end of spring 25 encircling it, the opposite end of spring 25 being secured to lug 26 extending from plate 18. An endless abrading belt 27 encircles pulleys 16, 19, and 21. This abrading belt may be a sanding belt, an emery belt or a polishing belt, depending on the type of work which is to be performed. It

Will readily be appreciated that spring 25 tends to bias lever 23 in a clockwise direction about pivot 24 and it is this biasing movement which maintains the tension on endless belt 27.

Also forming a part of the improved machine of the present invention is a mechanical movement for causing the endless belt 27 to grind an arcuate surface. Th structure includes a pulley 28 which is journaled for rotation on pin 29 extending from plate 18. Secured to pulley 28 is an eccentric 38 having a pin 31 extending therefrom which pivotally mounts one end of link 32. The opposite end of link 32 is pivotally mounted on pin 33 extending perpendicularly from lever 34, the central portion of which is pivotally mounted on pin 35 extend ing from plate 18. Mounted on pin 36 extending from lever 34 is upper crowned roller 37 and journaled on pin 33 extending from the lower end of lever 34 is lower crowned roller 38. Rollers 37 and 38 are preferably made of rubber but may be made out of any other suitable material. A drive belt 39 encircles pulley 28 and pulley 39 which is coaxially mounted with pulley 16 on motor shaft 17 It will be appreciated that as motor 14 rotates endless abrading belt 27 will be caused to travel. Furthermore the rotation of pulley 39 Will cause a corresponding rotation of pulley 28 and the movement of eccentric 34 which in turn will cause reciprocation of link 32 and therefore, because of the above-described mechanical connections, efiect high speed oscillation of lever 34 about its pivot 35. This motion can best be seen from FIG. 3 which shows the limits of oscillation of lever 34 and rollers 37 and 38 mounted thereon between the dotted and solid line positions. The high speed oscillation or rollers 37 and 38 will cause the portion of belt 27 which is supported between these rollers to effectively generate the curvature of the surface which is to be ground.

A rudimentary workpiece support may be mounted on base 13 and may consists of a tube 4-6 into which rod 41 having a workpiece engaging surface 42 telescopes. The workpiece is shown in FIG. 3 as a portion of wrench 11. A set screw 43 may be utilized to adjust the height of the workpiece supporting surface 42 and the workpiece 11 may be manually held or may be clamped onto the workpiece support 42'. As noted above, during operation, the travel of belt 27 in combination with the oscillation of lever 34 Will cause the flash 10 (FIG. to be ground from wrench 11 so that the resulting surface will look like surface 12. Furthermore during the above oscillation any variation in belt tension will be compensated for by the expansion and contraction of spring 25. In other words during the portions of the oscillating cycle wherein lever 34 is in the position wherein it tends to elongate belt 27, spring 25 will permit lever 23 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction and vice versa.

In FIGS. 6-9 an alternate embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. This embodiment possesses essentially the same type of mechanical movement as described above with respect to FIGS. 1-4. However it differs from the preceding figures only in the manner in which the workpiece support is constructed. Therefore in the interest of clarity the basic portions of the machine which were described above will not be described again at this point and certain numerals which appear in these figures and are identical to the numerals in FIGS. 1-4 designate identical parts. The workpiece support 44 is for the purpose of receiving the open end 45 of wrench 11. This work support includes a block 46 having concave slots 47 for receiving the forging flash 48 (FIG. 5) of the wrench. Block 46 has an integral base 49 on which the side of the wrench rests. A pin 50 is journaled in bearing 51 mounted on work support 44. Work support 44 is pivotally mounted on pin 52 which extends through work support 44 and standard 53 extending upwardly from the portion of the machine mounted on base 13. A pneumatic cylinder 54 has one end thereof pivotaally mounted at 55 to upright standard 56 which extends from base 13. From the other end of pneumatic cylinder 54 extends piston shaft 56 and the end 57 of piston shaft 56 encircles, with a ball joint fit, a portion of rod 58 which depends from work support 44.

As can be seen from FIG. 6, wrench 11 is mounted by slipping the open end over block 46. In this position workpiece support 44- is in its dotted line position shown in FIG. 9, that is, the Work support 46 is away from abrasive belt 27. After the wrench 11 is positioned in the foregoing manner, the air cylinder or motor 54 is energized to cause piston shaft 56 to travel upwardly in FIGS. 6 and 7 to thereby pivot work support 44 in a clockwise direction in FIG. 9 from its dotted line position to its solid line position. Therefore the end of wrench 11 will move into engagement with moving belt 27. Pulleys 37 and 38 will move in and out relative to wrench or workpiece 11 because of the oscillation of lever 34 and thus will grind the flash 10 from the end of the wrench. The wrench 11 is manually rotated in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7 and this will cause a relative movement between the end of the wrench and the abrasive belt 27 which permits various spaced portions of the end of the wrench to be ground. It is to be noted that pin 50 which supports block 46 is off center with respect to block 46 but is at the direct center of curvature of the outer peripheral portions of the open end of wrench 11. It is to be noted also that a spring 58 has one end thereof secured to the frame of the machine and the other end thereof secured to lever 59 which is fixed relative to pin 50 so that after wrench 11 has been rotated from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7, the release of the rotating force thereon will cause it to return to the position shown in FIG. 6 to permit the removal thereof from block 46 by merely sliding it downwardly in FIG. 6. In order to grind the opposite side of the open end of wrench 11 it is merely necessary to turn it over after it has been removed from block 46 and thereafter slide it back onto block 46 and thereafter repeat the above-described action of rotating wrench 11 in a counterclockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7 against the bias of spring 58. It will again be appreciated that the foregoing rotation of wrench 11 is effected only after pneumatic motor 54 has been energized to cause the open end portion of wrench 11 to move upwardly from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7, that is from a position where it is remote from belt 27 to a position wherein it is in engagement with belt 27. Suitable controls (not shown) are utilized to energize motor 54 to effect the above-described result and since such controls, which may be manually actuated, are extremely common they have not been illustrated on the drawing. It is merely necessary to understand that when motor 54 is not actuated, piston shaft 56 is extended as is shown in FIG. 6 and when it is actuated it is drawn into the housing of motor 54 as shown in FIG. 7.

Relative to both the embodiments of FIGS. 1-4 and FIGS. 6-9, it will be appreciated that the oscillatory action produced by lever 34 so as to cause belt 27 to move between its solid and dotted line positions will cause a resulting arcuate surface to be ground onto the outer peripheral portion of the workpiece. It will also be appreciated that polishing of a curved surface can be effected by similar equipment.

In FIGS. 10, 11, and 13 a further modification of the present invention is shown. It will be noted that the actual grinding apparatus is identical to that described above with respect to the other embodiments of the invention and that FIGS. 10, 11, and 13 differ from the above embodiments only in the manner in which the workpiece is held during the grinding operation. Therefore numetals in this last embodiment which are identical to the same numerals used in previous embodiments depict identical elements of structure. The purpose of the workpiece supporting structure of FIGS. 10, 11, and 13 is to hold the box end of a wrench during the grinding of the peripheral portion thereof and to also cause the wrench to automatically traverse the abrasive belt and thereafter to be automatically released. The structure for achieving the foregoing includes a base plate 60 having one end thereof keyed to shaft 61 which is journalled in base 13 of the machine. A pneumatic motor 62 is mounted on pedestal 63 extending upwardly from base 13. Mounted on the upper end of shaft 61 and secured thereto for rotation therewith is an upper plate 64 which mounts pneumatic motor 65. Shaft 61 is journaled for rotation in bearings 66 mounted in bracket .67 extending from upright plate 18 of the machine.

In order to effect an automatic grinding of the box end of wrench 11 it isrnerely necessary to place this open end on workpiece support 66 having areduced upper portion and a lower flanged portion 67. The fit between the box end of wrench 11 and work support 66 is a friction fit. Therefore it does not have to be mounted in any particular manner. It is to be noted that the grinding operation which is to be subsequently described is effected before the central portion 68 of the box end of the wrench is broached therefrom. It is to be noted also that work support 66 is mounted at the end of shaft 69 which is journaled in upright 70 and that the lower end of shaft 69 mounts a pulley 71 which is driven by belt 72 which in turn is drivenby motor 73 (FIG. 13). When the box end of wrench 1 1 is originally placed on work support 66, the shank of the wrench is moved up i into engagement with positive stop 74 extending upwardly from base 60. Thereafter it is merely necessary for the machine operator to depress foot switch 75 (FIG. 13) to thereby complete a circuit from the source 76 through lead 77, switch 75, lead 78, relay 79, lead 80 andlead 81 back to the current supply. The foregoing circuit will energize relay 79 to cause armatures 82 and83 to complete a circuit across contacts 82' and 83, respectively. Upon the closing of relay 79 a circuit will also be completed from current source 76 through lead 77, lead 84,

now closed armature 83, lead 85, solenoid valve 86 and lead 87 back to the current supply. The energization of solenoid valve 86 in the foregoing manner will cause holding pin 88 which is actually the piston shaft of motor 65 to come downwardly and clamp the central portion 68 of the box end of wrench 11 firmly in position on work support 66. Furthermore the energization of solenoid valve 86 will cause the piston shaft 89 0f motor 62 to move upwardly in FIG. lltto thereby cause base plate to pivot in a counterclockwise direction about shaft 61 and thereby draw the box end of wrench 11 into engagement with the already moving abrasivebelt 27. tion the closing of relay 79 will complete a circuit from source 76 through lead 77, lead 84, lead 90, armature 82, lead 91, motor 73, lead 92, lead 87, and lead 31 back to the current supply to thereby cause rotation of pulley 71 In addiforce move the work support away from belt 27 and also cause motor to retract pin 88 which holds wrench 11 on work support 66. After pin 88 is retracted the wrench will fall into channel or chute 97 which is inclined downwardly toward a bin which receives the finished wrenches which have already been ground. It can thus be seen that the embodiment of FIGS. 10, 11, and 13 provides an arrangement which receives a Wrench, mounts it on a work support, causes it to traverse the abrasive belt which is oscillating in the above-described manner to grind a radius and thereofter causes the workpiece to be automatically released and dropped into a chute leading to a receptacle.

A modified embodimentof the present invention is also shown in FIG. 12. This embodiment can be incorporated in any of the preceding embodiments and its primary purpose is for permitting the adjustment of the arcuate radius which is ground by the instant machine. More specifically, in this embodiment plate 18 extends upwardly from the base of the machine as in the previous embodiments.

Furthermore a pulley 28' is provided which is driven from a motor (not shown), pulley 28' being pivotally mounted on pin 29 extending from plate 18. A pin 100 is mounted on pulley 28' to effectively form an eccentric elongatedshafts 106 extend throughsuitable bores (not numbered) in bearing block 105. The right ends of shafts 106 have capscrews 107 threaded into them and lock nuts '108 hold cap screws 107 in their adjusted position. The left ends of shafts 106 mount rollers 109 which back abrading belt 110. Springs 111 are compressed between bearing block and collars 112 securely mounted on shafts 106. The heads of cap screws 107 are biased into engagement with surfaces 113 of lever 103 by springs 111. Thus the headset cap screws 107 and surface 113 act as a cam and cam followerar'rangement.

The adjustment of the throw of rollers 109 may be made in various ways. First of all it is to be noted that a turnbuckle 114 forms a part of link 101 and thus by effectively lengthening or shortening link 101 by turnbuckle 114, the limits of movement of rollers 109 can be adjusted. It is to be noted that the manipulation of turnbuckle 114 causes both rollers to be adjusted simularmatures 82 and 83 to be closed so long as micro switch 93 which is mounted on bracket 94 remains closed. However aftcr wrench 11 has been rotated from its solid line position in FIG. 11 to its dottedline position, the shank of the wrench will actuate micro switch 93 to thereby open the holding circuit associated with relay 79, said holding circuit being connected to switch 93 by leads 95 and 96. As soon as the relay is deenergized, it will return to the condition shown in FIG. 13 and therefore cause motor 73 to stop and also cause solenoid valve 86 to be de-energized to cause fluid pressure motor 62 to pivot base plate 60 in a clockwise direction in FIG-ll to there'- taneously. In addition, by manipulating cap screws 107, that is, by screwing them into or out of shafts 106 the limits .of movement of either one of the rollers 109 may be adjusted independently of the other roller. One of the purposes for providing the above-described adjustments is to permit a surface to be ground or polished which is not symmetrical about its horizontal axis. In other words, if the limit of movement of each of the rollers 109 to the left was the same, the rollers would cause the abrading belt to generate an arcuate surface which was symmetrical about the horizontal axis of the workpiece. Such a surface is shown at' 115 in FIG. 12a. However, if it is desired to generate an irregular surface curvature such as 116 in FIG. 1212, it is merely necessary to increase the length of upper shaft 106 relative to lower shaft 106 to thereby cause upper roller 109 to have a greater limit of movement to the left in FIG. 12 than lower roller 109. On the other hand, if it is desired to obtain an arcuate surface such as 117 in FIG. 120, it is merely between the oscillating rollers, as depicted in the drawings.

It is to be again emphasized that while the instant machine has been characterized and described as an abrading machine, it also can be used for analogous functions such as sanding and polishing. Furthermore its use is not limited to the grinding and/or polishing of the edges of wrenches but can be used to grind and/ or polish other objects and by virtue of the adjustments which have been described in detail above the abrading belt may be caused to in effect generate irregularly curved surfaces for polishing or grinding the same. It will also be appreciated that various other types of linkages may be employed to provide the oscillatory motion of the belt backing rollers within the scope of the present invention.

It is to be especially noted that the belt moving rollers such as 37 and 38 of FIG. 1 are mounted so as to always press on the rear of endless belt 27 in such a manner that they do not tend to unduly stress the belt. More specifically, it will be appreciated that whenever roller 38 moves to the left in FIG. 1, rollers 37 must move to the right and vice versa. Thus the tendency for increased tension on belt 27 which is due to the movement of roller 38 to the left will be compensated for by the tendency for decreased tension on belt 27 resulting from the movement of roller 37 to the right as roller 38 moves to the left. This action will minimize the above-described action of spring 25 in causing pulley 21 to adjust itself to various tensions to which the belt 27 is subjected. It will be appreciated, of course, that in certain situations the stressing of the belt 27 is unavoidable and under such circumstances a spring such as 25 associated with lever 23 tends to compensate for variations in belt tension which are produced by the oscillation of backing rollers 37 and 38.

Relative to the structure of FIG. 1, it is to be noted that a turnbuckle such as 114 of FIG. 12 may be incorporated in link 32 to thereby permit the adjustment of the throw of belt moving rollers 37 and 38. This construction may be substituted for the construction shown in FIG. 1, namely, the nut 28' mounted on the threaded end 29' of link 32, said nut being adjustable to vary the length of link 32. It is to be noted that elements 28'29' are mounted on each end of link 32. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, if it is desired to generate an irregular curvature the foregoing can be accomplished by either locating the work support 42 closer to one of the belt moving rollers 37 or 38 than to the other when the limit of movement of each of the rollers to the left is the same, or by making the foregoing adjustment of the work support 42 in combination with changing the length of link 32, or by merely changing the length of link 32. In other words by the use of suitable adjustments the same etfect can be obtained as with the embodiment of FIG. 12. It will also be appreciated that the workpiece supports of the embodiments of FIGS. 9 or 10 may also be made adjustable to locate the workpiece closer to one of the belt moving rollers than to the other for the purpose of obtaining curvatures of irregular configuration such as shown in FIGS. 12b and 120.

In FIGS. 14 and 15 a construction is disclosed which is intended to be incorporated in all of the preceding embodiments but which has been shown separately in FIGS. 14 and 15 in the interest of clarity. The purpose of the structure shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 is to permit adjustment of the degree of curvature which the endless belt 27 generates on a workpiece. In other words by means of the adjustment the curvature which is generated may be varied from a very slight curvature to one which is semi-circular. More specifically pulley 128, which corresponds to pulley 28 of FIG. 1 and pulley 28' of FIG. 12 is mounted on shaft 129 and includes an elongated slot 138 in which pin 131 is slidable toward and away from shaft 129. Connecting rod or link 132 which corresponds to link 32 of FIG. 1 and link 101 of FIG. 12 has the eye portion thereof (not numbered) pivotally mounted on enlarged bearing portion 136 of pin 1.31. A split bushing 133-134 having shoulders thereon (not numbered) which bear on opposite sides of pulley 128 is inserted in slot 138 and nut fits onto threaded end portion 137 to firmly clamp bushing 133-134 in slot 138. As can readily be seen whenever it is desired to increase the throw of rollers 37-38 to increase the curvature, it is merely necessary to loosen nut 135, move the assembly including pin 131 and bushing 133-134 toward the outer edge of pulley 128 and thereafter tighten nut 135 in its adjusted position. Conversely, whenever it is desired to make the generated curvature more shallow, it is merely necessary to proceed with the above-described steps of loosening nut 135 and thereafter moving bushing 133-134 and pin 131, which extends through the bushing halves, radially inward to thereby decrease the throw of rollers 37-38. In other words while the adjustments which were described relative to FIGS. 1-13 were generally for varying the regularity of the curvature, the instant adjustment described with respect to FIGS. 14 and 15 is for the purpose of actually varying the degree of curvature. It will readily be appreciated that by a combination of adjusting the regularity of the curvature and the degree of the curvature almost any type of curved surface can be generated by the machine of the present invention.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited thereto, but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, endless belt means having an abrading surface driven by said motor means, spaced belt moving means engaging said endless belt means for moving a portion of said belt means into engagement with said surface, means for positively driving and thus effecting cyclic movement of said spaced belt moving means in a substantially perpendicular direction toward and away from said surface while said portion of said belt means is in engagement with said surface, and workpiece support means for supporting a workpiece between said spaced belt moving means whereby said cyclic movement of said spaced belt moving means causes said belt to generate a curved surface on said workpiece.

2. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, first pulley means driven by said motor means, second pulley means spaced from said first pulley means, an endless belt encircling said first and second pulley means, a plurality of spaced belt moving rollers engaging said endless belt for moving a portion of said belt into engagement with said surface, and means operatively associated with said spaced belt moving rollers for positively driving said spaced belt moving rollers in predetermined oscillatory paths while said portion of said belt is in engagement with said surface to thereby cause the portion of said belt proximate said spaced belt moving rollers to continuously vary its orientation in response to the movement of said belt moving rollers.

3. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, first pulley means operatively driven by said motor means, second pulley means spaced from said first pulley means, endless belt means encircling said first and second pulley means, belt moving means in engagement with said belt means for moving a portion of said belt means into engagement with said surface, and means for positively and oscillatingly driving said belt moving means in a substantially perpendicular direction toward and away from said surface for continuously varying the position of said belt means to thereby continuously alter the path of the portion of said belt means in engagement with said surface as said belt is driven about said first and second F pulley means.

4. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, first pulley means driven by said motor means, second pulley means spaced from said first pulley means, endless belt means encircling said first and second pulley means, belt moving roller means in engagement with said endless belt means for moving a portion of said belt means into engagement with said surface, means for effecting positive oscillating driving movement of said belt moving roller means in a predetermined path in a substantially perpendicular direction toward and away from said surface during the travel of said belt means over said first and second pulley means to thereby continuously alter the path of the portion of said belt means in engagement with said surface, workpiece support means proximate said belt moving roller means whereby the relative orientation between a workpiece supported on said workpiece support means and said belt means is changed in'responseto the movement of said belt means by said belt moving roller means to thereby cause said belt means to effectively generate a curved surface on said workpiece, and means for causing said workpiece support means to cause said workpiece to traverse said belt means to thereby bring various portions of said workpiece in contact with said belt means.

5. An abra-ding machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface as set forth in claim 4 wherein said workpiece support means includes means for gripping said workpiece, and means operatively associated with said workpiece support means for causing said workpiece support means to release said workpiece after a predetermined amount of traversing has been effected between said workpiece and said endless belt means.

6. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, first pulley means driven by said motor means, second pulley means spaced from said first pulley means, endless belt means encircling said first and second pulley means, a lever having a central portion pivotally mounted proximate said belt means, spaced moving means on said lever on opposite sides of said central portion for moving said belt means, and drive means for imparting positive oscillation to said lever in a predetermined path to thereby cause the orientation of said belt means between said spaced moving means to be changed in timed relationship with the oscillation of said lever means to thereby cause said belt means to tend to generate a curved surface on a workpiece positioned proximate said belt moving means.

7. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a 3 curved surface comprising motor means, first pulley means operatively driven by said motor means, second pulley means spaced from said first pulley means, an endlessbelt encircling said first and second pulley means, and positive oscillatory belt moving means for engaging a portion of said endless belt proximate said curved surface and positively causing said portion of said endless belt to move in an oscillatory path in a substantially perpendicular direction toward and away from said surface while in engagement therewith to thereby effectively generate said curved surface.

8. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, first pulley means operatively driven by said motor means, second pulley means spaced from said first pulley means, an endless belt encircling said first and second pulley means, a plurality of belt moving means spacedly mounted relative to each other for engagement with said endless belt, means for effecting movement of said belt moving means to thereby cause the portion of said endless belt which is movable by said belt moving means to effectively generate a curved surface, and means for varying the limits of movement of certain of said belt moving means to thereby permit said endless belt to generate curved surfaces of different curvatures.

9. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, belt means driven by said motor means, belt moving means for engaging said belt means and for moving a portion of said belt means into engagement with said surface, means for effecting positive periodic rapid oscillatory driving movement of said belt moving means to thereby vary the path of movement of said portion of said belt means being driven by said motor means in a substantially per pendicular direction toward and away from said surface, workpiece support means, and means operatively associated with said workpiece support means for moving said workpiece support means relative to said belt means to thereby move a workpiece into and out of engagement with said belt means.

10. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, belt means driven by said motor means, belt moving means for moving a portion of said belt means into engagement with said surface, shaft means for mounting said belt moving means, bearing block means for permitting sliding movement of said shaft means, and means for imparting rapid periodic rectilinear reciprocating movement to said shaft means to thereby cause said belt moving means to vary the path of movement of said portion of said belt means in a substantially perpendicular direction toward and away from said surface while said portion of said belt means is in engagement with said surface to thereby cause said belt means to effectively generate a curved surface.

11. An abrading machine as set forth in claim 10 wherein said belt moving means comprise a pair of spaced rollers in engagement with said belt means and wherein said shaft means comprise a pair of shafts mounting said pair of rollers at first ends thereof.

12. An abrading machine as set forth in claim 11 wherein said means for causing said periodic rectilinear reciprocating movement of said shaft means comprises a a lever, a pivotal mounting for a central portion of said lever, a surface on said lever in effective engagement with second ends of said pair of shafts which are remote from said first ends, said second end of each of said shafts being on opposite sides of said pivotal mounting, and means for imparting oscillatory movement to said lever to thereby cause said shafts to move in opposite directions to thereby provide a movement wherein one of said rollers is moving toward said belt means while the other of said rollers is moving away from said belt means.

13. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface on a workpiece comprising motor means, belt means driven by said motor means, a plurality of spaced belt moving means in operative engagement with said belt means, and means for imparting positive and rapid oscillatory movement to each of said belt moving means independent of the position of the workpiece and to cause each of said belt moving means to move in opposite directions to thereby cause the portion of said belt means between said belt moving means to efiectively generate a curved surface on a workpiece, the movement of said belt moving means in opposite directions tending to equalize tension on said belt means.

14. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding an irregular curved surface comprising motor means, belt means driven by said motor means, a plurality of spaced belt moving means operatively associated with said belt means, workpiece support means located between said belt moving means for supporting a workpiece, means for positively driving and thus effecting cyclic movement of said belt moving means to cause said driven belt means between said plurality of belt moving means to generate a curved surface on said workpiece, and means for adjusting said workpiece support means so as to cause said workpiece supported thereby to be closer to one of said belt moving means than to another of said belt moving means to thereby cause said curved surface which is generated on said workpiece to be irregular.

15. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface on a workpiece comprising motor means,

belt means driven by said motor means, a plurality of spaced belt moving means in operative engagement with said belt means, means for imparting oscillatory movement to each of said belt moving means to cause each of said belt moving means to move in opposite directions to thereby cause the portion of said belt means between said belt moving means to effectively generate a curved surface on a workpiece, the movement of said belt moving means in opposite directions tending to equalize tension on said belt means, and means for varying the limit of oscillation of said belt moving means to thereby cause a portion of said belt means between said belt moving means to be capable of generating various curvatures.

16. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, first pulley means operatively driven by said motor means, second pulley means spaced from said first pulley means, an endless belt encircling said first and said second pulley means, belt moving means for engagement with said endless beit, means for effecting movement of said belt moving means to thereby cause the portion of said endless belt which is movable by said belt moving means to effectively generate a curved surface, first means for varying the degree of movement of said belt moving means to thereby adjust the regularity of the curvature which is generated by said belt moving means, and second means for adjusting the degree of curvature which is generated.

17. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising motor means, first pulley means operatively driven by said motor means, second pulley means spaced from said first pulley means, endless belt means encircling said first and second pulley means, means for supporting a workpiece proximate said endless belt means for efiecting engagement therewith, and drive means for moving a portion of said belt means into engagement with said surface by effecting rapid positive relative oscillation between said portion of said endless belt means and said workpiece in a substantially perpendicular direction toward and away from said surface to effectively cause said endless belt means to generate a. curved surface on said workpiece.

18. An abrading machine for polishing or grinding a curved surface comprising belt means, workpiece support means for supporting a workpiece proximate said belt means, means for efiecting relative travel between said belt means and said workpiece support means to thereby cause progressive portions of said belt means and a workpiece supported by said workpiece support means to come into contact to thereby effect said grind ing or polishing action, and drive means for effecting rapid positive relative oscillatory movement of said progressive portions of said belt means in contact with said workpiece in a direction transverse to the direction of said relative travel between said belt means and said workpiece support means, to thereby generate a curved surface on said workpiece References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,220,268 11/1940 Olsen 5ll35 2,671,993 3/1954 Jones et a1. 51-141 2,722,786 11/1955 Carlson 5l14l ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner.

L. S. SELMAN, Assistant Examiner. 

17. AN ABRADING MACHINE FOR POLISHING OR GRINDING A CURVED SURFACE COMPRISING MOTOR MEANS, FIRST PULLEY MEANS OPERATIVELY DRIVEN BY SAID MOTOR MEANS, SECOND PULLEY MEANS SPACED FROM SAID FIRST PULLEY MEANS, ENDLESS BELT MEANS ENCIRCLING SAID FIRST AND SECOND PULLEY MEANS, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A WORKPIECE PROXIMATE SAID ENDLESS BELT MEANS FOR EFFECTING ENGAGEMENT THEREWITH, AND DRIVE MEANS FOR MOVING A PORTION OF SAID BELT MEANS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SURFACE BY EFFECTING RAPID POSITIVE RELATIVE OSCILLATION BETWEEN SAID PORTION OF SAID ENDLESS BELT MEANS AND SAID WORKPIECE IN A SUBSTANTIALLY PERPEN- 